At a meeting of the Parish Council held on Monday 9th March there were present, Mr. J. Nichols (Chairman), Mr. S. Rees, Mr R. Leech, Mr. G. Wade, Mr. J. Blowers, Mrs G. Soanes, Mr K Wood, Mrs. R. Herrivan and Mr. S. Lewis. WD Councillor Ashdown and three parishioners also attended.
Apologies were received from Mrs. T. Townend, Mr. S. Perks and PCSO Kershaw.
Presentation by representatives from Suffolk Association of Local Councils  Mr Terry Fleet Waveney area Chairman and Shona Bendix Chief Executive were welcomed by the Chairman, Mrs Bendix said that they were disappointed that Blundeston and Flixton are considering not renewing their membership and she said that they were the only organisation to advise and represent Parish Councils. They also have representation on the Broads Authority and the Waveney Local Strategic Partnership. They liaise with Police on traffic issues amongst other things and look at grants for speed guns for Parishes. They run events on various things about such issues as Parish Plans - drug problems - crime prevention events etc. Fifty eight sets of laptops and broad band connections have been given away. Advice on Waveney Locality Board has been given recently. They provide lots of training for various aspects of importance to Parish Councils, ie training courses for Clerks, Chairmen and Parish Councillors. Mrs Bendix said that she had seen in the minutes of the meeting in the Lowestoft Journal that a Parish Councillor had written to SALC and not received a reply, she was deeply sorry about this and had checked the files and had no record of this having happened. It was explained that quarterly meetings are held in Waveney and the next one is on 16th March in Southwold. Mr Fleet who is the Chairman of the Waveney Branch, said that there is an awful lot to learn when being elected to be a Parish Councillor and it is very important to have someone to fall back on for advice and SALC is excellent for this. The Waveney branch gets very involved with the local police. Mr Nichols said that the main reason for the decision to not renew our subscription was probably the cost, and the Parish Councillors had asked “What did they get out of it? “ he then said that perhaps the council were probably not aware enough of the full extent of the powers and the help available from SALC.   Mr Blowers again asked the question what do we get out of SALC? He said that 10 years ago, when he was chairman of the Village Hall Management Committee he asked for advice and did not get any reply. Shona Bendix said it is now a very different organisation from the one 10 years ago and she would hope things have changed for the better. The association has a 98% subscription rate in Suffolk. The Chairman thanked both of the representatives for attending and Mr Fleet said he would love to see a representative from Blundeston and Flixton at the meeting next week in Southwold.  
Minutes approved the minutes of the previous meeting held on 2nd February were approved
Declaration of Interests there were no declarations of interest.
15 minutes for Parishioner Input
A large pothole has appeared in the highway outside 15, The Street Mr Rees said that it is all part of a trench which was dug to provide the utilities to the new houses opposite. Mr. Ahsdown will contact the Planning Department and report the problem to them. 
Other Parish Business
Mr Blowers reported that the telephone box at Queensway has had the glass broken. Mr Wood reported that the kerbstones round the phone box in Flixton have been replaced and the holes in the road have been filled in, he also reported that a serious accident occurred on the B1074 last week. He also remarked that Lorries cannot pass each other along this road and the sides of the road are being eroded. Mr Wade reported that there had been severe flooding along Lound Road, he believes that the new houses do not have soak ways and the surface water feeds into the pond which then overflows. Mr Ashdown agreed to inform Highways and Building Control to see what can be done. The ditches along Market Lane have all been cleared within the past week. Mr Rees said that a parishioner was having trouble with a neighbour who has a hedge which is far too big for the size of the garden and did not know who to contact to help him to get the owner to reduce the size of the hedge, Mr Ashdown gave the relevant information. Mr Rees also asked if anyone was aware of the frequency of the Road Sweeper lorry’s visit to the Parish. The Clerk was asked to contact the Highways regarding this. Mr. Wood suggested that the local Parishes combine to employ a full time road sweeper for all the Parishes, the Chairman said that it would be an issue to raise the matter at the next Northern Parishes Liaison meeting. (remarkably the sweeper wagon appeared the next day and did the whole village!) Mrs. Soanes reported that vehicles were parking on the pavement and grass verges on The Street, Orchard Close and Lound Road, the Police have been asked if this is legal and yet nothing has been done. Mrs Herrivan reported that the Broadland flood alleviation contractors have devastated a May tree hedge, piled the trees up and tried to set fire to them and they have bulldozed a way through the marshes to the river bank. The dykes have been made so deep that the animals will not be able to drink from them, mature willows have also been removed.

Police Report. A written report was read, it stated that there were 3 recorded crimes during the month of February, one was of criminal damage to the skate park, there were no suspects and the graffiti will be removed by WDC at no cost to the Parish Council. Another reported crime was a burglary on Flixton Road when jewellery and money was taken and this case is ongoing, the final one was drug related at HMP. PCSO Kershaw also reported that she has asked WDC to investigate the Caravan parked on the grass verge on Church Lane after verbal requests to move the offending item have not been followed up.
District Councillor Report  Mr Ashdown reported that Waveney is first in Suffolk for Waste management. The decision from the Boundary Commission will now not be available until July. The Council will be having a full debate as to whether the proposed Waveney Campus will go ahead. He also reported that Council Tax will be going up by 3.9% in Waveney, and that Car parking fees will rise by 10p. 
Accounts there were no accounts
Planning
Broads Authority - notice that proposed works to improve the strengthening, rollback etc. at marshes in Oulton and Blundeston have been approved.
Mr. P Cleveland, 26, Lakeside Rise, construction of two storey side and rear extension.  This was approved.
Section 106 information.
Correspondence.
Letter had been received from Pc Boggis re his retirement, the Parish councillors generally agree that Pc Boggis has been an excellent ambassador for the Police and his presence in the Parish had been of great benefit to all.
Broadland Environmental Services limited sent an invitation to Public Exhibition on April 7th regarding Broadland Flood Alleviation Project
SALC Notice of two courses and 2 copies of The Local Councillor
BDO Stoy Hayward LLP Local Council Briefing to help with Annual Audit
Norfolk and Waveney Mental Health Information regarding contacting them
SCC Transport Newsletter
WDC adopted core strategy development plan. The Chairman reported that Blundeston is still categorized as one of the larger Villages. As such only small scale development and affordable housing projects will be considered. Larger Villages are supposed to have a good level of services including shops and a doctors surgery but it is recognized that in Waveney many in the ‘larger village’ category do not fully meet these criteria. 
Waveney Bird Club information about a first meeting in Bungay Community Hall on March 16th at 7.30pm.
Suffolk County Council - A further opportunity to influence and shape Suffolk’s future.
Broads Authority - Changes to the procedure for determining householder appeals. 

The Councillors agreed that a letter of condolence should be sent to Reverend Roger Kent’s mother on behalf of the Parish Council.
The next meeting will take place on Monday 6th April and will preceded by a meeting of the Village Hall Management Committee

There being no further business the meeting closed.